Without the Fox
by Orchinus
Summary: A one-shot: what could have happened differently on the Kyuubi attack?


**A/N: This is an alternate universe where instead of sealing the fox inside his son, the Fourth sealed it inside himself, taking the fox with him. Naruto will be recognized as the Fourth's son. As such, this Naruto will be smarter than canon, and not be so attention seeking. I'll take constructive criticism but no flames, please. You'll have to mind my grammar for now; I don't have a beta and as such can't catch everything, as much as I want to. Rated M just in case.**

**Disclaimer- Given that this site is called fan, I know it comes as a shock to you that I don't own Naruto. **

Without The Fox

Prologue – Human Sacrifice (unexpected tension)

_Konoha – Night of Kyuubi Attack_

A bright flash, and the village was silent once again. Shinobi, seeing no looming demon fox, warily made their ways out of hiding spaces towards where they saw their hero, the Yondiame last. Among those Shinobi was their previous leader, the Sandiame. The Sandiame, however, was lost in his own thoughts as he made his way over to where they all saw Gamabunta, Minato's summon disappear. He knew of one and only one technique Minato could have used to stop the Kyuubi, and that was the **Hakke no Fūin Shiki** (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style), where one made a contract with the Shinigami to seal away an object, at the cost of one's life. However, where one sealed it was the choice of the user, and definitely a way to make a jinchūriki.

'_Minato… You wouldn't have sealed it in your son would you?' _the Sandiame mused, worried. He knew that if the Yondiame did, the villagers and shinobi who were grieving lost ones would use the child as a scapegoat. They would not be able to see past the fox sealed inside him and ostracize him. This was the treatment of human sacrifices worldwide, and there would be no difference here. As much as he wanted to believe in the people of Konoha, he just couldn't see the people get past their hate of the fox to look past it, especially with someone like the Yondiame dead because of it. So with great relief, he noted Naruto's unblemished face and the lack of any seals on him, signifying he wasn't a jinchūriki.

'_So perhaps a semblance of normal life can be had for poor Naruto, then. It would seem Minato sealed the fox inside himself, taking it with him.' _The Sandiame smiled. He was glad that Minato had chosen not to make his child a jinchūriki. Otherwise, the best he could have done for Naruto would be to make a law forbidding anyone from speaking to the younger generation about it, even though it probably wouldn't work. Even if he stopped people from telling their children about it, they would influence their children to hate Naruto, and there would have been nothing he could do about it. However, then he stumbled across another problem: his heritage.

'_He looks too much like his dad to hide his identity. There would be no point, as anyone who got a glimpse of him could tell he's Minato's child. Iwa will be a problem, but they are still weakened by the 3__rd__ Shinobi World War. We can deal with that if it means this child can have a happy childhood, and village morale would be high. Perhaps this could be a rallying point for our village. This could turn out to be an advantage if I didn't hide it.' _The Sandiame realized.

"People of Konoha!" The Sandiame shouted. Everyone quieted down to listen to what the Sandiame had to say. They were anxious to here what had happened to their hero, the Yondiame, and what happened to the Kyuubi. However, right now, they wanted reassurance that the Kyuubi was gone, and this was not just a false calm. Seeing the grim look on their leader's face, they quieted down and braced for the worst.

"Tonight has been a terrible night for Konoha. The Kyuubi attacked and destroyed a good section of the village and our defenses. We have lost countless tonight, both shinobi and civilians. The Yondiame himself had to give his life to subdue the beast. He used a forbidden jutsu to take the Kyuubi with him to the afterlife. Therefore, the Kyuubi is no more." A shocked murmur went through the crowd. "Due to his untimely sacrifice, it seems I will have to take up the mantle of Hokage once again. However, all is not lost tonight! Although we lost the Yondiame today, his legacy lives on!" The people started to mutter again as they began to piece together what their Hokage had just said.

"Wait, so do you mean…" someone called out from the back of the crowd, and the crowd's excitement grew with each word, wanting to see the son of their hero.

"Yes." the Sandiame said. "Here is their son, Naruto Namikaze." And at that moment, the muttering became a roar as the Sandiame held the baby aloft, sun-kissed hair to the sky so the crowd could see. The first thing people noted was how similar he looked to their beloved Yondiame, with the blond hair and the now open sleepy blue eyes. This confirmed to many what the Sandiame said was true, and they had the son of the Yondiame in their midst. So jubilant were they, in fact, that they almost missed someone dressed in civilian clothes start to sneak away into the shadows of the night.

_Forest around Konoha, 1 hour after end of Kyuubi attack._

The Iwa spy, Haru, tore through the forest, not bothering to worry about making too much noise. Why should he bother? There should be no one out in the forest after the Kyuubi attack, as everyone should be with the Sandiame celebrating the downfall of the Kyuubi. This was also urgent news that needed to get to the Tsuchikage immediately. If the Yellow Flash had a son, this son needed to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible before he came just as much as a nuisance as his father. Right now would be the perfect time to attack Konoha, as it would need to recover from the Kyuubi attack, and they were now without the Yellow Flash to stop them. While he knew that Iwa was hurting too, it would be a war of weakened villages and the Leaf had lost their one big advantage. He needed to get out of the country fast though, before anybody noticed he was missing. As such, he was glad to see the river that led into Kusagakure. He put on his Iwa headband so that he could pass through the neutral country. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't see a shock of silver hair, or the Inu mask the person had on over his face before he drifted into peaceful unconsciousness.

_Flashback – 30 Minutes Ago_

Kakashi was happy. He was worried that he had lost everything and everybody precious to him, but it seemed as if sensei had a son. Kakashi promised to himself that he would be there for Naruto, as sensei was there for him. He was making plans on what to do with Naruto (he probably wouldn't be awarded custody – he was only a teen) when he noticed a person 2 or 3 people away from him slinking off. Curious, Kakashi decided to investigate why he didn't seem as happy as everyone else was and felt and why he was leaving now. Making up his mind, Kakashi turned around and followed him.

'_This person, whomever he is really doesn't want himself to be found right now' _Kakashi observed as he watched his target duck into a third alleyway in a row. Narrowing his eyes, not like anyone could see under the mask, Kakashi felt himself tensing. Why was he so desperately not want to be seen? His ANBU side was screaming at him to take him out right now before he became a threat, but he knew his hands were tied until he found evidence that this person was who he thought he was: a foreign spy. As the man left Konoha, Kakashi would have summoned Pakkun, but the person was making no effort to hide himself, preferring to move at speeds that Kakashi was certain that no civilian was able to go at as it more rivaled a chūnin's speed.

'_Just a little more…' _Kakashi begged silently as the shinobi as he was now identified approached the neutral country where Kusagakure resided. Kakashi felt a pleasure stir up from within him as he saw the spy whip out an Iwa headband, proof enough that this wouldn't become an international incident if it went down the drain. Luckily, the spy was to intent on escaping to notice him even if he hadn't traveled at a safe distance, and he had a vindictive pleasure clotheslining the guy into unconsciousness.

_Hokage Office_

The Sandiame was exhausted. There was the long speech to give to the villagers, and making sure that young Naruto was taken care of. He decided that he would be raised by the Sarutobi clan, despite objections from the council about the issue. He was sure that Asuma would help out, and Kakashi would too. He was just lamenting over all the paperwork that would come out of this when the leaves swirled up from the ground, indicating a **Shunshin **(Body Flicker), and he looked up to see Kakashi holding a body over his shoulder that looked like it had an Iwa headband and sighed. More paperwork was incoming, he was sure of it. Maybe if he could keep Kakashi on the hush-hush about this and make sure the people in Torture and Interrogation didn't tell a soul, it would accomplish the double purpose of not starting a war with Iwa and him having less paperwork.

He started smirking with the thought of how much paperwork he could save if he did that more often and had just started to whip out a certain small orange book when his door burst open again, a chūnin burst open the door with a stack of paperwork three feet high in front of him and sat them down on the desk.

"Konoha's filing system for paperwork was unharmed, Hokage-sama" the chūnin reported, but quickly fled when he saw the look the Sandiame was giving him. Minutes later a scream was throughout Konoha, and citizens rushed back into their houses, worrying about another Kyuubi event.

_ANBU Torture and Interrogation, Cell 3_

Haru woke up uncomfortably to find himself strapped to a chair with a bright light in his face. Alarmed, he tried to bite down on his neck collar where he knew the pill if he got caught was. When nothing happened in 5 seconds, he began panicking and biting down harder, but he froze when he heard a laugh from behind him and paled when he saw the face of Ibiki Morino, self-described sadist and head of the interrogation force of the Hidden Leaf.

"So, mind telling us what an Iwa shinobi was doing here in Konoha?" Ibiki asked, a nasty smirk on his face. It wasn't often he got to interrogate someone, as most of them went to his subordinates. He was having a good laugh on the inside about Haru's terrified face that had now gone ghost white, obviously recognizing whom he was dealing with.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about!" Haru managed to squeak out, sounding completely terrified. Did they get the pill hidden between this teeth and the side of his mouth? Maybe if he could get to that one…. He started to fidget around with his tongue, trying to find the pill. He finally felt it out with his tongue and bit it, smirking triumphantly…. But then he felt a little weird. Haru frowned: this wasn't supposed to happen!

"We replaced it… with something special." Ibiki offered, his ever-present smirk not leaving. His plan had worked out perfectly, and now the Iwa shinobi had bitten into their truth serum pill that should make him a bit more likely to spill his guts about his purposes for spying on Konoha. "Why were you snooping around Konoha?" Ibiki asked, his voice like honey yet promising pain if wasn't answered.

Haru seemed to struggle with himself for a few minutes before shrugging his shoulders, and having a loose tongue from the serum's effects, began his story.

"I went undercover about two weeks ago from orders up top." Haru shrugged. "I was supposed to see if Konoha would be vulnerable in its current state to a surprise attack from Iwa and maybe Kumo. The Hokage shared a glance at Ibiki before he started a recording system instead of writing down the testimony, having a feeling it would be a long story.

"When I got here I went undercover as a civilian and began my observations. I was able to learn a fair bit about the hidden village, but not much important stuff about security, etc. I was preparing for another night of spying when I heard a roar out in the distance. Ibiki and the Sandiame shuddered. They remembered that roar all too well: it was the beginning of the Kyuubi attack. I made my way towards the roar, curious as to what it was." Ibiki and the Sandiame perked up at this. It seemed they might be getting some important answers about the attack.

"Anyways," Haru continued, "I saw the Kyuubi out in the distance and was stunned, but my attention was drawn by a battle not far from where I was just outside the wall in Konoha. When I got there, I saw the accursed Yellow Flash fighting some guy in a mask while a redhead lay on the ground nearby, not moving. The figure in the mask seemingly had red eyes that looked like the Sharingan." At this point, the Sandiame let loose a noise and Ibiki looked shocked. Was this what had caused the Kyuubi attack? An Uchiha? The Hokage's eyes narrowed.

"The Yellow Flash and the masked man fought for a while before the masked man suddenly fled. The Kyuubi stopped for a second, and then continued on its way. The Yellow Flash went back. I followed and watched as the Yellow Flash disappeared and an heir was named. I rushed back to tell the Tsuchikage and was caught near Kusagakure by one of your shinobi." Haru finished, and was promptly killed by a serious looking Sandiame.

"Make sure nothing that you just heard makes it to the record of this interrogation. I need to investigate the Uchiha Clan to see if they were behind the Kyuubi attack. Ibiki nodded his head seriously. The Hokage gave a weary sigh.

"Sometimes running this village is too much… Why did you have to go, Minato?" the Hokage moaned. He could just feel Minato up there laughing at him as he trudged slowly back to his office to find the stack of paperwork had grown another six inches while he was gone. Another demented scream was heard throughout the village, and as people rushed out again to see what was wrong, they found nothing wrong, so they shrugged and went back to sleep, dismissing themselves as paranoid.

_Konoha Streets, 4:00 AM Next Morning_

Kakashi was in deep thought about yesterday's events as he walked through the early morning darkness and stopped at the Memorial Stone. He then proceeded to pay his respects to Obito, Rin, and his sensei. He thought about how he would be there for his sensei's kid. With something of a closure on the situation, he turned around and started to walk around the neighboring forest, enjoying the peace and quiet when something rang out through the woods.

"YOSH! KAKASHI! HAVE YOU FINALLY DECIDED TO FAN YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BY TRAINING EARLY IN THE MORNING?"

Slowly, Kakashi turned around, staring into eyebrows the size of caterpillars and started backing up slowly. The one thing he did not need right now was Gai, when he was enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning! He decided to try and work his way out of this situation the way he normally did.

"Hm, I'm sorry Gai, but did you say something?" Kakashi asked, popping open his book and starting to read to show Gai what he thought of that. Unfortunately for him today, Gai wasn't taking that today and started to drag him off.

"YOSH! I WILL IGNITE YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH EVEN BRIGHTER THAN BEFORE! AND IF I CAN'T DO THAT I'LL TAKE TEN LAPS AROUND FIRE COUNTRY CRAWLING…"

Another shriek rang across Konoha. Dismissing it as them being paranoid again, the villagers shrugged and went back to bed. It was only 4:00 AM after all. A sullen Kakashi was starting to wonder why no one was coming to his aid when a green spandex suit was shoved in front of his face. Kakashi kicked and squirmed some more but couldn't get out of Gai's suddenly iron grip as he disappeared behind some trees not to be seen for a few hours as the sun rose over Konoha.

**A/N: Well there you go, the prologue of ****Without the Fox ****review, yadda, yadda, yadda. The Uchiha massacre will go on, I believe the gears were turning well before the Kyuubi attack and the divergence wouldn't change their minds, although there might be some added scrutiny. Haven't decided on how to portray Sasuke, I'm really fine either way. I might make it a poll. Real chapters will be around 4000-5000 words, maybe longer; I'll do my best to make them long. You should be able to find the status of said chapters on my profile. I actually do like Kakashi; I just don't like the way he was portrayed as a hypocrite in canon in Part I. With the Kyuubi gone, Akatsuki probably won't be the main villain; they might stay the original good group whose purpose was to free Ame. I will probably have a 4****th**** Shinobi World War between hidden villages instead of everyone against Akatsuki. The idea just interests me but I really don't find many of them that aren't time travel fics. The story that I really liked in this regard (plot wise) was ****The Child of the Prophecy**** by Asahi Gingetsu and might use that as a very rough model, with obviously major differences. Pairings are undecided at the moment and will not come into play until later in the story, at which point a poll will be up.**

**For now,**

**Orchinus**


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